Although the United States is a nation built on diversity, many are currently focusing more on division than unity. In this cultural climate, angry advocates create disruption and distractions as they demand social change. Amidst these constant movements, it can be difficult to find the focus necessary to create meaningful policy solutions that address the root causes of our problems. If executives don’t step up and take real action, we’ll not only fall further into disharmony in the social sphere, but in the corporate world as well.
Our Culture of Advocacy
These days, everybody is an advocate. Although movements such as Black Lives Matter and Me Too are initiated with the good intention of manifesting peace and fairness, ironically, they often engender an ‘us vs. them’ mentality.
With so much divisive anger constantly going viral in the media, executives can feel like they’re walking on eggshells, nervous to make decisions that might offend a client, employee or colleague. This fear can cloud their judgement, preventing CEOs from making decisions that lead to corporate harmony and growth.
It’s far easier to focus on outrage rather than action, but in order to make true progress, executives must move past the disruptive tides of emotion and set fixed goals for their hiring and compensation practices that promote inclusion in the long-run.
Accepting Accountability
True accountability means stepping up and taking responsibility rather than simply spreading a message through advocacy. To begin this process, executives need to treat their colleagues and direct reports like a family and have real conversations instead of shallow, virtual interactions. This will allow corporate leaders to better understand the unique biases, perspectives and contributions that each employee holds.
After bringing everyone’s objectives out in the open, it’s necessary to begin addressing inclusion through education and a bottom up approach. This means making sure that new employees not only enrich the company through their superior technical skills, but also through the diverse perspectives they bring to the business. In the long run, implementing such practices will invite more inclusion and increase corporate harmony. The key to remaining accountable, however, is staying focused.
Keeping Accountability Amidst the Distractions
As technology becomes more ubiquitous by the day, our lives are filling with distractions. These distractions lead to a lack of productivity, which in turn promotes frustration, anger and outrage. Top executives rise above this emotional approach and hone their focus in order to implement productive policies that drive profits.
For example, one way to stay focused and keep accountability for inclusion is dedicating some time each month to evaluating your company’s recruiting and compensation practices, making sure they are fair and that all employees feel valued. Another idea is actively working to move beyond diversity to true inclusion so that all perspectives are equally accounted for.
As more and more business begin taking inclusion seriously, they’ll find that it not only makes for a happier corporate culture, but a happier bottom line as well.
Follow us on LinkedIn for updates & news in the recruiting world, career tips for Executives and more.